João Gilberto (1973)

João Gilberto (1973)

In a small makeshift studio in an Upper West Side brownstone apartment in 1973, João Gilberto recorded one of the most quietly important statements of his career. Commonly referred to as his “White Album” by fans—thanks to its eponymous title and stark design mirroring that of The Beatles—Gilberto’s fourth album as a solo artist eschews the ornate arrangements and jazz ensembles of his previous work, in favor of a bare-bones session with just voice, acoustic guitar, and skeletal percussion. Recorded meticulously by none other than electronic music legend Wendy Carlos, João Gilberto offers a form of intimacy rarely felt in recorded music, with Carlos’ careful recording style accentuating the tactile nature and restrained virtuosity of Gilberto’s guitar playing, capturing its interplay with the pops and clicks of Portuguese’s plosive consonants. The song choices here are deeply layered with Gilberto’s own history within bossa nova, and within 20th-century Brazilian music writ large, unfurling like a constellation map for what evolved into “Música Popular Brasileira” (MPB). The opener “Águas de Março” is a poetically reduced ode to the seasonal patterns of life, written by his longtime creative partner Antonio Carlos Jobim. Elsewhere, Gilberto tours the past and present with both admiration and irony, covering the Tropicálistas (Caetano Veloso’s “Avarandado,” Gilberto Gil’s “Eu Vim da Bahia”), Carmen Miranda’s arranger Ary Barroso (“Na Baixa do Sapateiro”), and legendary samba figure Geraldo Pereira (“Falsa Baiana”). Meanwhile, “Undiú”—a rare original in his repertoire—traces back to Gilberto’s 1962 collaboration with modernist author Jorge Amado for the film Seara Vermelha. Like Gilberto’s best songs, the track weaves a melody through an unusual chord architecture with an ease and grace that blossoms with complexity upon closer examination.

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